Lets just get this out of the way: Between now and the release of The Lego Movie in 2014, block/building puns are going to flow like water. Deal with it.

If you had told me years ago that there would be a movie based on Lego I would have looked at you like you were insane. Then came a massively successful line of video games that actually gave the ubiquitous blocks personalities and story lines. Who would have thought that was even possible?

While I can’t imagine myself seeing this in theaters, I did get a couple chuckles out of the trailer, and I actually think it might do okay at the box office. You never know these days.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Lego Movie Trailer Builds the Blocks of Anticipation

Amazing Spider-Man 2 was awesome, so of course Sony has already announced Amazing Spider-Man 3 and Amazing Spider-Man 4.

Oh, yeah, I forgot, the second film isn’t even done filming yet.

Sony went ahead announced today that we can expect to see Amazing Spider-Man 3 in 2016 and Amazing Spider-Man 4 in 2018. The releases now break down as follows.

• The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – May 2, 2014
• The Amazing Spider-Man 3 – June 10, 2016
• The Amazing Spider-Man 4 – May 4, 2018

Nothing like churning out sequels as if they come off a factory line.

This tactic is really more about securing the weekend release dates than anything else. The other studios will now know to avoid these weekends, or at least that is the theory in cases such as this. If the other studios have a big enough film that they think could knock Spider-Man off his web, they’ll go for it.

At this point there is no indication of how many more films the original cast are signed for, and no writers or directors have been announced. But why should that stop a studio from announcing something? And what if one of the films bombs, will that stop the subsequent ones? In theory it could, but it appears Sony has a lot of faith in the series at this time.

Plus it keeps Marvel/Disney from getting its hands back on the character for that much longer thanks to the way the licensing deals are written.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Amazing Spider-Man 3 and 4 Receive Release Dates

CBS has announced when its new and returning shows will be hitting the airwaves this fall.

It seems like only yesterday CBS announced its fall 2013/14 line-up, and here are with the premiere dates. It seems a little early to start announcing the premiere dates, but nothing like building up the excitement early.

Come on September 26! I need some new The Big Bang Theory!

Wednesday, Sept. 18

• 8:00-9:30 PM  SURVIVOR (27th edition premiere)

Sunday, Sept. 22

• 8:00-11:00 PM, ET/ THE 65TH PRIMETIME EMMY® AWARDS
• 5:00-8:00 PM, PT

Monday, Sept. 23

• 8:00-9:00 PM  HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (9th season premiere)
• 9:00-9:30 PM  2 BROKE GIRLS (3rd season premiere)
• 9:30-10:00 PM MOM (Series Debut)
• 10:00-11:00 PM HOSTAGES (Series Debut)

Tuesday, Sept. 24

• 8:00-9:00 PM NCIS (11th season premiere)
• 9:00-10:00 PM NCIS: LOS ANGELES (5th season premiere)
• 10:00-11:00 PM PERSON OF INTEREST (3rd season premiere)

Wednesday, Sept. 25

• 9:00-10:00 PM CRIMINAL MINDS (9th season premiere)
• 10:00-11:00 PM CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (14th season premiere)

Thursday, Sept. 26

• 8:00-8:30 PM  THE BIG BANG THEORY (7th season premiere)
• 8:30-9:00 PM  THE MILLERS (Series Debut)
• 9:00-9:30 PM  THE CRAZY ONES (Series Debut)
• 9:30-10:00 PM TWO AND A HALF MEN (11th season premiere)
• 10:00-11:00 PM ELEMENTARY (2nd season premiere)

Friday, Sept. 27

• 8:00-9:00 PM UNDERCOVER BOSS (5th season premiere)
• 9:00-10:00 PM HAWAII FIVE-0 (4th season premiere)
• 10:00-11:00 PM BLUE BLOODS (4th season premiere)

Saturday, Sept. 28

• 10:00-11:00 PM 48 HOURS (26th season premiere)

Sunday, Sept. 29

• 7:00-8:00 PM  60 MINUTES (46th season premiere)
• 8:00-9:00 PM  THE AMAZING RACE (23rd edition premiere)
• 9:00-10:00 PM THE GOOD WIFE (5th season premiere)
• 10:00-11:00 PM THE MENTALIST (6th season premiere)

Monday, Sept. 30

• 8:30-9:00 PM WE ARE MEN (Series Debut)

Monday, Feb. 24

• 10:00-11:00 PM INTELLIGENCE (Series Debut)

Post from: SeanPAune.com

CBS Announces Fall Premiere Dates for 2013/14 Season

Could DC Comics finally be on its way to being the next Marvel when it comes to super-hero movies?

Man of Steel soared to the top spot at the box office this weekend with $113 million. In addition to its Thursday take this brings it to $125 million domestic so far off of a $225 million dollar budget. Warner Brothers is looking for this to launch its own movie series, so things may finally be moving ahead there based on thsi performance, but lets see how it does in week two.

The end of the world comedy This is the End brought in $20.5 million to land in second place. With its Wednesday and Thursday takes it stands at $32.8 million off of a $32 million dollar budget.

Third place went to the magical heist film Now You See Me with $10.3 million bringing its domestic total to $80 million off of a $75 million dollar budget.

Fast & Furious 6 sped in to fourth place with $9.4 million bringing it’s U.S. total to $219.5 million, and now makes it the the top film in the series both domestically and globally with $636.8 million.

Rounding out the top five was The Purge with $8.2 million, which is a 75.9 percent slide from its opening weekend. Not good by any means, but with a $3 million dollar budget and $51.8 million domestic, it’s doubtful anyone is upset.

Jumping down to ninth place you’ll find After Earth with $3.75 million, a domestic total of $54.2 million off of a $130 million dollar budget. Can we finally just shuffle M. Night Shyamalan off a fry job at a fast food joint?

Two big release next week with Monsters University and World War Z.

Curious how I think these new films will do? Check out my second quarter films of 2013 predictions.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Man of Steel Soars to the Top of the Box Office

In case you were wondering how a group of spacefarers were going to work logically into The Avengers 2, well, you can stop thinking about it because they won’t.

While out promoting Much Ado About Nothing, Joss Whedon addressed one of the burning questions in the Marvel Cinematic Universe regarding how the Guardians of the Galaxy would crossover with The Avengers 2.

We’re following Guardians at Shepperton [with Avengers 2] but we won’t be swapping cast members. Every movie is its own thing and has to be. Unless I take a lot of peyote and write a very different draft… and I’m not ruling that out.

Well, this is surprising in some ways as Guardians as the last film before The Avengers 2, but there is still a chance it somehow sets up the events of the sequel to the third biggest film of all time.

While Marvel can do anything it wants, but considering how interconnected Phase 1 was, it’s a bit surprising to see this step being taken in Phase 2.

We’ll see how this plays out over the next few years, but it definitely sounds like things will be different this time around.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Guardians of the Galaxy Won’t Appear in The Avengers 2

Curious about the story behind the robots of Pacific Rim? Now you can learn all about them.

I love fake movie tech. No clue why, but I do. I love reading about how fake spaceships “work,” and what corporation built a laser gun. I’m a geek through and through, so Pacific Rim presents me with a whole slew of new fake facts to learn.

Luckily writer/director Guillermo del Toro is a similar type of geek, so he’s more than happy to talk about his Jaegers. (Which we finally learn why they are called that in this featurette.) Color me giddy.

Pacific Rim hits theaters on July 12.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Pacific Rim Featurette Explains the Jaegers

Elysium is the latest film from Neill Blomkamp, and it looks amazing.

While Neill Blomkamp may not be a household name yet, I’ve been watching his career with some interest for a while now, and if you’ve seen District 9, you know it. He has an amazing talent for making the most otherworldly items looks like they belong next to the car in your driveway.

This trailer has definitely caught my attention, and I’m ready to go back into Blomkamp’s world.

Elysium opens Aug. 9, 2013.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Elysium Trailer Packs a Wallop

Hollywood has gone nuts for adapting multi-book fantasy series into films. So nuts, in fact, that the books don’t even need to be published yet to get a multi-film deal.

So I’m sure you’ve heard of the QUeen of the Tearling trilogy by Erika Johansen. Oh, you haven’t? Could that be because the book trilogy to be published by Harper Collins was only announced today… the same day the film series was announced?

Variety reported exclusively today that Emma Watson – best known as Heroine in the Harry Potter films – will take on the lead role in the Queen of the Tearling films as well as produce them. The only other name attached to the production so far is David Heyman as a producer, who also happened to have worked on the Potter films.

The rub in all of this, however, is the books have yet to be published. Harper Collins will begin publishing them in 2014, and the only thing known about them so far is that it is being likened to a female version of Game of Thrones and is set 300 years after a climate shift. The story centers around a 19-year-old girl and “a malevolent Red Queen (that) holds considerable power.”

Yep… that’s all it takes to get a film deal these days.

The sad thing is, I like Watson a lot. I think she has played her career very wisely post-Potter, and she does need to step up to the leading lady level at some point. But making an untested work the lynchpin of your big career move seems like a fairly risky idea to me. It will be fairly interesting to see how this plays out.

No word yet on when the films will begin releasing.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Emma Watson to Star in Queen of the Tearling

Yes, the world really needed a sequel to 300.

No, we really didn’t, but we got one any way.

300: Rise of an Empire will tell the story of the naval battle that ran concurrent with the events of the first 300 film. Although Zack Snyder isn’t directing this time around, it’s apparent that the style established in the first film has been stuck with slavishly.

300: Rise of an Empire will hit theaters on March 7, 2014.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

300: Rise of an Empire Trailer

Proving yet again that Hollywood is completely out of ideas, the Choose Your Own Adventure books series of the 1980s is heading to the silver screen.

According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, 20th Century Fox is closing in on finishing up a deal to acquire the rights to the Choose Your Own Adventure book series for film and other media outlets such as interactive mobile apps. This isn’t the first time Hollywood has looked at the property, but with well-known producer John Davis (Predator, I, Robot) in the mix this time, it seems fairly likely to happen.

How would this even work as a film? Does no one remember how Clue was criticized for having multiple endings? And these books were built on the idea of the reader making the choices, how will that happen in a theater? All of that said, this could totally work on home video, but in a theater? Say what? And don’t get me wrong, I read the books when they first came out back in the day, but even then I knew they were horribly written. I can’t imagine how my brain would melt now if I tried to read one.

As ideas go, this ranks right up there with the Troll dolls movie on the stupidity scale.

Post from: SeanPAune.com

Choose Your Own Adventure Books Heading to the Movie Theater